Love lyrics are very important and they give a tune to life. There are those love songs that you identify to be some of the greatest and, this is usually unmistaken. When good love song lyrics are heard, most people will appreciate and love them. The following are power of love lyrics sang by one of the most recognized and talented women in the music industry. ‘Power of love’ is a song by Canadian born Celine Dion, who has captivated the world with the record breaking song. It captures the spirit and heart of love and gives a picture on how strong the power of love can be. This is not just an entertaining song but, it is one that is emotive and a favorite of many all around the world. The following are power of love lyrics that continue to make a huge impression to many lovers. The first stanza begins like this ‘Whispers in the morning, of lovers sleeping tight are rolling down like thunder’. The power of love lyrics by Celine continue as follows ‘As I look into your eyes, I hold on to your body, and feel each move you make. Your voice is warm and tender, a love that I could not forsake’. You will have to agree with me that these are some of the most beautiful and artistic lyrics ever written.

The best thing about them is that they are simple and yet complex in a way. It is these words that have been able to capture many a song lover. There are many other lines to this song and the chorus goes as follows. ‘Cause I’m your lady, and you are my man, whenever you reach for me, I will do all that I can’. When you have your mate close to you, this is an excellent song to put on and you will rediscover what the power of love is all about. It is an affirmation of the strong bonds of love that are in many ways magical. Other lines or lyrics to the song go as follows. ‘Even though there may be times, it seems that I’m so far away, never wonder where I’m because I’m right here by your side’. This part of the song brings out the reality of hardship and distance in relationships. Love is perfect in all aspects but, we are not perfect. It is vital for two people who love each other, to keep reassuring each other and this is what love truly is. The willingness to tell your lover that you are still there for them is paramount and it is something we should all learn to do.

The next part of the song brings out the adventure and mystery of love. It shows that in love, there are vast territories to explore with the one you love. It goes like this ‘We are heading for something, somewhere I have never been, Sometimes I’m frightened but, I’m ready to learn the power of love’. I cannot state enough that these are just words that draw or show what the power of love is and can be. If you are interested in more lyrics from the song, you need to access the Internet for this and more lyrics about songs of love.

I’m sure by now that most of us are well aware of who The Beatles are and how they made us all sing and dance to their music. Well, what we may not be all aware of is the story and controversies behind one of their greatest hits Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da.

Rumors has it that the song was about cross dressing and drugs and that during the time this song was being written and recorded, The Beatles weren’t in proper sync with each other. John Lennon has been openly expressing his annoyance with the music so while the song was an instant hit, the controversies it has with it also created its own hit-of-the-town-talk.

So what does the song really mean? Where did it originally came from? With the upbeat mix of instruments used, one can’t help but wonder: who played the drums, the percussions, the bass, and for piano enthusiasts, who played the piano on Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da?

Originally, McCartney got the idea of the song from a friend who keeps saying “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da, bra!” And in contrast to what the reviews were claiming, the song wasn’t about cross dressing and drugs. It turned out that “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da” means nothing nasty but “life goes on” in Nigerian.

The song took quite a long time to be finalized because the members can’t decide as to how the beat should be played. Then there came a time when Lennon was said to be high on marijuana and as it turned out, he was the one who played the piano on Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da in a much louder and faster beat. That’s when they decided to use that same beat since the members liked it better. During the recording, McCartney accidentally sang “Desmond stays at home and does his pretty face” instead of “Molly”. This really created a buzz from the public thinking it was such a gay song when in fact, the members just really opted not to change it for the song to have the desired effect and guess what? That’s just what they got!

So while Paul was the primary composer and vocalist, Ringo and George did the drums, the bongos, the percussions, the bass and the hand claps. John, on the other hand did the backing vocals and yes, the one who played the piano in Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da faster and louder. If not for John, then perhaps, Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da’s beat wouldn’t be that great that it couldn’t create a frenzy of dancing party people out of us all!

Hot-rodding is a popular American culture. The phenomenon was first covered by magazines. Glossy print names such as The Rodders Journal, Hot Rod Magazine, Street Rodder, Popular Hot Rodding, and Rod and Custom Magazine are just a few of the magazines that feature this staple activity in the American life.

In addition to print, hot-rodding likewise gained mileage in the visual wing of the media. Discovery Channel featured a lot of hot-rod documentaries such as Monster Garage, American Hot Rod, and Overhaulin’. And television shows such as My Classic Car and Horsepower TV also had dedicated episodes on topics about hot-rodding.

Tom Wolfe wrote about it in his book “The Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby.” Even the Beach Boys sang about it in “My Little Deuce Coupe.”

Hot-rodding mostly began in the 1930’s in Southern California where people started modifying light cars with big engines and started racing them on the vast and empty lake beds northeast of Los Angeles. The original hot rods were old cars that were reduced to weigh less and improve aerodynamics. After World War II, many small airports were abandoned in the country. In effect, these venues allowed hot rodders to race on marked courses. World War II also helped the hobby’s popularity especially in California where a lot of returning soldiers had been given technical training in the service to modify such cars.

At the heart of it all, the 1932 Ford Roadster was the car that every hot-rodder wanted. It was the car that changed the automobile industry forever. It was simple, lean and it had a coveted handsome body. It also had a very affordable engine, the V8, which rewarded the 1932 Ford Roadster with the reputation as the perfect car for a nation that was obsessed with speed.

But then just like like everything else, hot-rodding’s popularity started to wane. Car shows and drag racing divided the hot-rodding community. Then Detroit released muscle cars like the Plymouth Roadrunner and the Pontiac GTO. With these muscle cars, there was longer any need to put a Cadillac engine in a Ford Roadster. The Pontiac GTO could outperform any hot rod and it offered more passenger space. There was no longer any need to spend time to build and tune the car by oneself. The muscle cars had it all.

But today, the hot rod culture lives on. And in January 2007, hod rod culture even celebrated its 75th anniversary by releasing The 75 Most Influential “1932 Ford Hot Rods”. The list was commissioned by Ford where a panel of hot rod experts reviewed some four hundred seventy-four worthy cars and whittle it down to seventy-five cars.

So if you are interested to be part of the hot rod culture, I advise you to first try renting the car in one of car rental dealers in town. By renting it you would have a sample of experiencing the car, not just in some nostalgic showroom, but on the gravel itself. If you don’t like it, you won’t have any regrets because you can return it after renting. But if you like it (which I’m pretty much sure you will), then well and good.

You might also want to check out these car rental dealers’ sites. Their websites already offer car models, prices, rental polices, special offers and reservations. Live out and be a part of the American Way in a rental such as the 1932 Ford Roadster. This is the American Way as you know it, discover it first hand on your exotic car rental.

Parsley is perhaps one of the most commonly used but therapeutically under-rated of herbs. How often one sees a dish in a restaurant garnished with parsley, and the waiter leaves the parsley on the serving dish or the customer rejects it as mere decoration.

Parsley contains more vitamin C than any other standard culinary vegetable, with 166mg per 100g (4oz). This is three times as much as oranges and about the same as blackcurrants. The iron content is exceptional with 5.5mg per100g (4oz), and the plant is a good source of manganese (2.7mg per 100g) and calcium (245mg per 100g). It is also exceptionally high in potassium, with one whole gram of potassium in 100g (4oz) .

In the Middle Ages parsley was used for many conditions including ‘fastening teeth’ (because scurvy which is caused by a deficiency of vitamin C makes the gums spongy and the teeth loose) and for ‘brightening dim eyes’ (bad eyesight is a sign of shortage of vitamin A). The old herbalists often had good results without their knowing the chemistry involved. The old Greeks were in awe of parsley because the herb was associated with Archemorus who was eaten by a serpent having been put on a parsley leaf as a baby by his careless nurse. Henceforward he became the harbinger of death.

On the bright side, they decorated the heroes of the isthmian games with parsley garlands and decorated the many maidens that sang at feasts in the same way. This last use may be associated with the great effectiveness of parsley in increasing menstruation and helping in regular process of monthly periods. This action is due to the presence of apiol which is a constituent of the female sex hormone estrogen. The plant was used against the effects of malaria with some success and Father Kniepp said it was one of the most proven of all remedies as a diuretic to cure water retention or dropsy.

Today parsley is a valuable therapy for kidney stones, as a diuretic, for rheumatism, menstrual insufficiency and as a general stimulant. It settles the stomach and improves the appetite. The high content of vitamin C is not only useful in its own right, but also assists the absorption of the valuable quantity of iron.

Parsley juice, being a herbal drink, is quite powerful and is usually taken in quantities of about 2 fl oz (50ml) three times a day and is best mixed with other juices. The leaves can be deep frozen and are easily stored. It is a good idea to use parsley in cooking as well as in the form of juice. Dried parsley is not a very satisfactory alternative to fresh and has a coarser flavor.

1965’s “Beach Boys’ Party!” was a rollicking compilation of cover songs; Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys sang tunes by contemporary bands like the Beatles along with doo wop classics. Played on acoustic instruments, the songs seemed to be recorded live at a house party; in fact, the album was recorded in the studio and laughter, hand-claps and chatter were added later for effect. The album yielded one of the Beach Boys’ biggest hits: a cover of the Regents’ “Barbara Ann.”

The “Party!” LP was recorded shortly before the Beach Boys’ masterpiece “Pet Sounds” because of pressure from Capitol Records for a new album. Leader Brian Wilson wanted something that wouldn’t take a lot of time to record but would still manage to be fun: a selection of songs that the group enjoyed while growing up.

Fellow surf rockers Jan & Dean, who were recording in the next studio, were invited to perform on the sessions but their label, Liberty Records, threatened to withhold their royalties if they participated in a Capitol album. That didn’t deter Dean Torrence, who joined in.

Torrence shared lead vocals with Brian Wilson on “Barbara Ann” but Wilson later admitted that in the final mix, Torrence’s voice was made louder than his. Radio programmers began playing “Barbara Ann” directly from the “Party!” album; due to the response, Capitol released it as a single, which became a Top 10 hit.

The roots of the song go back to 1958, when the Desires, a struggling doo wop group from the Bronx, New York, recorded a string of unsuccessful demos at New York’s Regent Sound Studios. Hoping their luck would change, the group changed their name to the Regents.

At one studio session the group had ten minutes to spare, so lead Guy Villari suggested the group record a song frequently used as a warm-up number. Written by tenor Chuck Fassert’s brother Fred, the song was named after their sister: “Barbara-Ann” (hyphenated in the original).

The group decided that of their demos, “Barbara-Ann” had the best chance to become a hit; they brought the song to more than 50 record labels with no success. Discouraged, the Regents broke up at the end of 1958.

Fast forward to 1961. Eddie Jacobucci, younger brother of Regents’ bass man Don Jacobucci, was in a spot. Eddie’s group, the Consorts, was short of original songs. Eddie recalled his brother’s demo of “Barbara-Ann,” which he played for his group.

The Consorts convinced Lou Cicchetti of Cousins Records in the Bronx to let them cut their own version of “Barbara-Ann.” When writer Fred Fassert heard about it, he brought Cicchetti the Regents’ demo; Cicchetti liked it enough to release the Regents’ original as a single.

Fred Fassert quickly went to work finding the members of the Regents. Once re-formed, the Regents recorded “I’m So Lonely” as the B-side to “Barbara-Ann.” Released in March 1961, “Barbara-Ann” was an immediate hit, reaching number 13 on the Billboard pop charts.

At Macquarie University in the early ’90s, three Australian early childhood education majors, Murray Cook, Greg Page, and Anthony Field, decided they had an urge to dress up in brightly colored red, yellow, and blue (respectively) costumes that look like the uniforms on the original “Star Trek” series. It wasn’t long before they convinced Anthony Field’s bandmate in The Cockroaches, Jeff Fatt, to don a purple shirt and start entertaining at birthday parties while they danced and sang about fruit salad and wallabies.

If you’re a parent of a small child, you probably know this Aussie quartet as The Wiggles, who are the Beatles, Monkees, or ‘N Sync of the kid set. They are the highest paid entertainers in Australia, ahead of Russell Crowe, Colin Farrell and Nicole Kidman.

You know right off when you watch their DVDs and videos (which you will, at least 200 times each) and their TV show four times a day on Playhouse Disney that these guys are definitely not an American creation. Mister Rogers, Mister Dressup and Bozo the Clown are gone, and no modern adult American males would dress in funny costumes and entertain kids with songs about “Fruit salad, yummy yummy!”

Their loss. The Wiggles, who earn $14 million per year, are the latest kids’ sensation, and what they can teach us about success and finding your life’s passion will inspire corporate America to play the guitar and dance with the Wiggles’ friends, Wags the Dog, Henry the Octopus, Dorothy the Friendly Dinosaur, and Captain Feathersword the Friendly Pirate, who acts with cheerful swashbuckling bravado that would make Johnny Depp want to slit his own pirate throat.

1. Do what’s good for your audience without lecturing.

The Wiggles don’t resort to After School Special messages. You want to know about the value of a healthy diet? Have some fruit salad! Exercise? Let’s get up and “Romp Bomp a Stomp,” or dance and play, with Dorothy! Let’s do the pirate dance with Captain Feathersword and run after the Wiggles in their big red car. The songs do what songs, dance and theater were designed to do originally: pass on knowledge. They do this in a fun, clever, colorful, eye-catching way. The three Wiggles (Murray, Jeff and Greg) that have ECE degrees, and children of their own, know kids can understand what’s beneficial for them without being spoon-fed. And Jeff…well, sleepy Jeff shows everyone the value of a good nap.

2. Find a way to include everybody and you’ll reap the rewards.

Jeff, who doesn’t hold an ECE degree, was shy about getting involved with kids, according to a Knight-Ridder article, “If you have small kids, get ready to Wiggle” by Rod Harmon. Greg, Anthony and Murray devised Jeff’s constant sleeping and the running gag of asking the kids who participate in the videos and TV show to shout “Wake up, Jeff!” This has become so popular that there is actually a Wiggles video, “Wake Up, Jeff!” From the first Wiggles video to the current videos, you can see Jeff become more and more involved with the children, singing, dancing and playing, although he is quieter than the other three. Kids are always attracted to someone who’s slightly different, and Jeff stands out even when dancing with a big green dinosaur reciting poetry and a purple dancing octopus. The other three Wiggles seem to encourage his uniqueness. From all the videos, CDs, and Jeff dolls they’re selling, the approach works! When Wiggles doubles tour America, Jeff will be mobbed by kids too young to go nuts over Justin Timberlake.

3) Keep it live and stay in contact.

The Wiggles could get away with doing DVDs, TV shows and albums for their adoring fans the rest of their lives. But all of them are used to interacting. Murray, Greg and Anthony expected to be teachers. Jeff and Anthony played to crowds as members of the Cockroaches. They include real-life children, including members of their own families (as you see in the credits of their videos and DVDs), in their videos and talk to them. In one scene of “Hoop Dee Doo! It’s a Wiggly Party,” several children make emu skirts while one of the Wiggles talks to them. Undoubtedly, the Wiggles’ live shows are no different, including the versions in Asia that will feature local native speakers as Wiggles clones (“The Wide World of Wiggles,” Feb. 6, Newsweek Web exclusive). Even Dorothy has her own dance party on tour. Whether you send a giant green dinosaur with a floppy white hat or show up yourself, don’t underestimate the value of making contact and getting involved. It’s fun to run and jump around with kids, too (no wonder Anthony, who’s always eating, stays thin!)

4) Don’t follow the crowd or the market.

Most American non-Disney non-Nick Jr non-PBS kids’ shows seem designed as 22-minute commercials for action figures or dolls, as well as ways to keep kids passively entertained. The traditional wisdom has been: Kids will be bored if there’s no slam-bang action and there will be no way to make money out of doing something that’s good for them. The Wiggles have proved this false. Kids dance and sing along with Jeff, Murray, Greg, Anthony, and friends, rather than sitting eating the sugary food du jour and mindlessly watching some freaky green monster get zapped only to reappear in the next episode. With an epidemic of diabetes mellitus and obesity in American kids, the Wiggles’ approach is not only positive, but continues to breed success for the multicolored four.

The Wiggles themselves doubted there would be an audience for helping children learn through music and dance. A booking agent told them there would be no money in it, but they stuck to their guns, and became wildly popular in Australia. The United States was next and the Wiggles now are a solid hit on Playhouse Disney, with sold-out tours—they have even had to add second and third shows in many cities.

5) Getting international or multicultural isn’t that hard.

The Wiggles don’t need a multicultural sensitivity training class. After all, when your friends are a singing dog, a rose-eating dinosaur and an octopus with an underwater band, you don’t have a problem with diversity. They regularly include Australian, Irish, Spanish, and other songs in their act. The franchise is expanding to Asia. If you think that this TV show doesn’t sound like a likely hit in Japan, you’ve never seen “Pokemon” or anime, or the old classic “Ultraman.”

6) Stay true to your roots.

There’s no doubt that Murray, Jeff, Greg and Anthony are Australian (again, four American guys would not do what they do), although Dorothy sounds a bit more British. Songs such as “Willaby Wallaby Woo” speak to their down-under heritage, and you don’t see them suddenly moving into a mansion in Malibu, pretending they’re wealthy Hollywood Yanks with no family or kids.

7) Your family life only enhances your work and your passion.

Three of the Wiggles are married, Jeff apparently being too sleepy to settle down, although before Anthony married he was voted Australia’s most eligible bachelor. These mates have built their career around children, and as noted in point 3, regularly include their own families in their videos. The family that eats fruit salad and romp-bomp-a-stomps together, stays together. If you give joy to millions of kids, it can’t help having a lasting positive effect on your family.

Does all this inspire you to Wiggle, to get up and dance? You probably will if you have kids. But let it inspire you to follow your passion in your work, your family, and your life. Learn from those four career consultants, Greg, Murray, Jeff, and Anthony. And hey, eat some fruit salad. You need your health, mate.

Let’s Wiggle!

Visit the Wiggles online at http://www.thewiggles.com.

Sometimes we feel bombarded by life as we work through one event after another, striving to reach the next one that’s in the diary, being blown off course by unplanned events and struggling as the bills mount up. Life goes on. At times it can feel like it goes on and on and on and on… as if there is no end, no destination. We can feel this way following life events which don’t make sense, such as the death of a child or the loss of a loved one. Life can lose its meaning and purpose and as we wake up we begin to question whether we have a clue as to what we are doing. What is life about? Do you understand life?

At these times, we may look at where we are and feel that we aren’t quite where we thought we would be when, as teenagers, we planned our lives, imagined how they would be. The death of a child is a life changing event which opens up emotions, doorways and questions. It marks a ‘before’ and ‘after’ moment in our lives. However much we wish it hadn’t happened, we cannot change the past. However much we wish we could have back the imperfect lives we had before, the death of a child changes our lives forever.

For many people the thought of change brings negative connotations, yet change does not need to be like this. Every day we are changing and we are making small changes in our lives. If we aren’t making changes, however small, then we are stopped still and not learning, not living and if we are not living, then we are dying. Perhaps not in the physical sense, but in a spiritual sense, at a soul level. Remember the last time you learned something new that you were interested in? Remember how alive you felt and how your whole being sang with joy? This is how we thrive as human beings: by learning, by being.

So, do you understand life and how you got to the point you are now? You may have found yourself in the bath or standing at a bus stop contemplating this very question. As we journey through life, every choice and every experience leads us and brings us to the place we are now. Think back over your life and, starting with your birth, write down all the significant events, using just a few words to mark each event: making or losing friends, starting or leaving a school or job, rites of passage, moving house, courses undertaken, girlfriends/boyfriends, marriage, divorce, births, deaths, personal achievements, significant events. Once you have completed your list, look over it and begin to ‘join the dots’ and see how your life path brings you to today. Notice how some events have fed into others, how some things have developed your personality and your strengths. Notice how the biggest challenges have not only had the biggest impact, but also the biggest learning and result in the biggest changes in your life.

If you have experienced the loss of a child, then you will have noted this as one of the biggest events in your life, if not the biggest. And depending on how long it is since your child died you may or may not yet be able to see how that is informing your life. For my parents my sister’s death brought their life to a standstill and whilst they did make positive changes in their life, the impact of that death still weighs on my whole family. For myself, as I look back, my sister’s death brought me an understanding of life and emotional pain early on and from that I have always maintained a strong connection to Great Spirit, even when I didn’t understand that that connection was there. It has led me to understand situations from other people’s point of view, and to go out and live life.

If you have recently lost a child, then know that this painful experience is part of your life’s journey which, if you allow it, you will understand more as time passes and you learn to heal from this devastating loss. Sadness is not the only possible outcome from the loss of a child. For many people, from that loss, they are inspired to do something which they wouldn’t have done had they not had that experience.

Do you understand life or are you bewildered by it all? Part 2

Do you understand life? I’m not sure that anyone can really answer that question. The closest we can get is understanding ourselves, what informs our choices and decisions, what it is that we love, what brings us joy, what and who is most important to us. My understanding of life is that we are here to live from our hearts: to love everyone around us, to understand that everyone is doing the best that they can, and to do what brings us the greatest heartfelt joy.

Whether we manage to achieve this is or not is all part of the human experience. I am still striving to get there!

Time is surely an investment. Unfortunately this important fact of life is being misconstrue as the panegyrics that should be sang to a fulfilled grand fathers and grand mothers. Our “Time” should and must be audited from time to time if we are to make a significant impact in this transitory life. It is quite disheartening to see our society falling into a state of abysmal decadence whereby failure is gradually becoming an established next door neighbor yet we embrace this menace as our norms and values.

What people have failed to understand is the fact that there is a need for us to maximize our God given potentials whilst on earth. He(God)has endowed us with a lot of innumerable blessings to the extent that we can not afford to give any reason for failure whilst we are here on a divine assignment. Sadly some would rather prefer to engage themselves in a whole lot of mundane and frivolous activities that will further plunge them into perpetual penury and slavery only because they are short sighted.

Our life span is very short irrespective of the context to which it is being interpreted. However, whether long or short we will surely give an account of it to our creator someday. If our time is not properly audited, sooner or later you will realize that your entire life is almost a complete waste just in doing things you have little or no control over. For every free time you have, pick up your book and read. Great leaders are great readers. The greatest fraud in my handbook of wisdom is the fraud of time. There should be no room for failure as long as our time is being properly managed.

At a point in my life, I was being treated as an outcast by some of my loved ones only because I was in the wilderness of challenges. They instituted a campaign of calumny against me with the express desire to smear my rising profile that they knew little or nothing about. But one thing I refused to settle for in those trying time was for me to give in to failure knowing fully well that I can be whatever I choose to become in life. I was chastised and neglected but that did not change my course of destiny.

I passionately pursued my course to greatness through determination and by constantly reminding myself of the time frame and to the glory of God the rest is history. Few months ago, I came in contact with some of them again having being away from them for couple of years, surprisingly,one of them was still acting up, all I did was to laugh and ignore her because she obviously does not get the fact that am a child of promise and that I surely can not be a push over. The moment you admit that you are a failure that is the very moment the man in you will die. What people think about you is insignificant to your future but what you make of it.

I knew it from the onset that I will be a great person in life and I really do not need any prophet to say Amen to this because am also a prophet. Even devil can attest to the fact that success is my birth right. Meanwhile, I was also aware of the fact that it wont be an easy path to tread upon. Just do the right thing and you will surely be on your way to greatness but above all things do not forget to partner with your heavenly creator because he is the giver of all things. It will be gratifying for me to die in my place of work than to die whilst wasting Ten years of my life in the front of a standing mirror all in the name of admiring myself. To all, take charge of your time and you will surely be in charge of your destiny.

Eating disorders are now epidemic. Singers and others in the entertainment business with its requisite media exposure are, I believe, especially vulnerable to these debilitating secret illnesses.

No one can approach their full vocal potential while chained to an eating disorder. Why? Because the voice will have problems in these areas:

• Breathing (Power)
• Tone (Path through an open throat)
• Communication (Performance)

That’s right; with an eating disorder, everything I teach in Power, Path & Performance vocal training … everything necessary to the workings of your voice … is compromised and plagued with problems; some very pesky to diagnose and correct.

From denial to her long-term recovery from anorexia/bulimia, I have been Jenni Schaefer’s voice teacher and friend. Jenni recovered using a unique therapeutic approach that involved treating her eating disorder as a relationship, rather than an illness or condition. Jenni actually named her anorexia/bulimia, “Ed,” an acronym for “eating disorder.” She and I co-wrote the song “Life Without Ed” which is also the title of her McGraw-Hill book endorsed by Dr. Phil and many others.

Testimonials tell us her story is powerful, so here it is from both our points of reference:

What I noticed the first time I met Jenni was her strange numbness. She couldn’t move out of the guarded stance– slumped shoulders, head hung forward, eyebrows frozen, jaw clenched, spine and hips frozen, arms limp and legs locked. She was like a stick figure. Her voice was thin, colorless. She complained that her throat hurt when she sang. Her range was limited, and she had several breaks in her voice. I tried to help her loosen up, but I could barely get her to lift her arms from her sides to allow ribcage expansion. She inhaled from the upper chest in short gasps.

Jenni speaks… “With Ed, I was disconnected from my body… felt like a floating head. I was rigid and had difficulty moving. In therapy sessions, I was encouraged to ‘just move’ — anything.”

I also had a lot of trouble helping Jenni connect to her songs. When I asked her to visualize singing “Valentines Day” to someone she loved, she couldn’t think of anyone! Finally she began to connect by imagining singing to children in a cancer ward where she had worked. An odd thing… She didn’t want me to look at her when she sang.

Jenni… “I was disconnected from feelings. I lived in my head. A big purpose of my eating disorder was to starve and stuff feelings — to keep me out of my emotions. So when I was supposed to connect with feelings in a song, it was not only completely foreign to me, it was also terrifying.”

Jenni was easily deflated and crushed. I had to be very careful not to push her too far with exercises. She somehow needed to sing, but music didn’t seem to move her. Because she didn’t have the energy to keep her posture erect and flexible, she usually just stood still and lifeless. Or walked like a zombie.

Jenni…”I had no energy — restricting, bingeing and purging requires a lot of energy (physical and emotional) and leaves little left for anything else.”

Jenni couldn’t understand why she didn’t feel something. She would watch me express feelings she couldn’t experience, and I think that was a big part of why she reached out for help. She asked me to pray for her. She thought since she didn’t feel something, she couldn’t pray herself.

Jenni… “Singing is spiritual. An eating disorder kills all spiritual connection. This was a huge hurdle.”

Little by little, as Jenni got help, she got stronger. However, voice lessons became even harder. She developed a diaphragmatic spasm of some kind and a kind of fatalism took hold, making her expect the strange uncontrolled vibrato weirdness to happen at a certain place in her range. I sent her to Vanderbilt Voice Clinic. Only when they couldn’t find anything organically wrong did Jenni start to believe she could beat this strange vocal problem. Soon after, I was able to coach her into the flexible rib stretch necessary to allow the issue to completely disappear.

Jenni… “Anorexia is characterized by intense perfectionism. While singing, I would concentrate more on being perfect than on getting a greater message across.”

Jenni kept improving, but it was two-steps forward, one-step back. It was hard for her to picture singing to someone. She was stuck in self-consciousness. She began to experience feelings, but with the feelings came anger at being critiqued, which made her feel judged. At one point, I suggested she practice differently and she flew into a rage. I didn’t see it coming. I didn’t read the signs that said I was pushing too far, and the lesson ended in disaster.

Jenni… “All eating disorders are characterized by constant self-criticism. It is difficult to sing when a negative voice is constantly screaming in your ear.”

The trust and friendship Jenni and I had developed made the misunderstanding short-lived. We got back to the business of vocal training and then another challenge set in. It was a long season of intense sadness. I was afraid for her; she would cry, literally for days, and then go numb. She pushed people away, saying she had no friends. For a while, she stopped singing and cancelled voice lessons.

Jenni… “Depression is often an underlying symptom of an eating disorder. When lost in despair and hopelessness, singing can seem too vulnerable because emotions might leak out. So Ed would often build yet another ‘protective’ wall.”

Jenni and I began working together again, and this time every lesson seemed to break new ground. Her recovery was solid, her physical and emotional health much more stable. I watched her persevere with great courage through those monumental battles of recovery. And then I listened to her find her voice at last.

One of the last pieces in the puzzle was put in place by the brilliant performance coach Diane Kimbrough (615-297-1524). Diane told Jenni to stop worrying about ‘going there’ every time she sang. She said this is way too much pressure for an artist to have to re-experience the emotional scene during every performance. Instead, Diane suggested, forget yourself and make THEM (the audience) feel something! It was a miracle.

Jenni stopped focusing inward and made the connection, through the song, to someone else. Her voice is now strong, controlled, confident and beautiful. She FEELS joy, frustration, anger, and love. All of this is giving her a voice with which to rock the world. She speaks and sings all over the country to entertain, teach and prove that recovery from an eating disorder is indeed possible. And oh, I so love to hear her laugh!

For those struggling with an eating disorder, we hope you read in our story that it’s never too late to reach out for help, start healing- and start singing your heart out!

A caustic tongue specializes in slicing, dicing, running down the personality, actions, plans, goals of others. Destructive and not constructive criticism is the hall mark of such an individual who possesses such tongue. Its been argued that caustic tongues are more evident in the females, perhaps because of their natural tendencies to love gossiping, back biting, feasting on details rather than the brief straight to the point attitude of their male counterparts. However, despite the brevity formula adopted by the men, a good number of them intermittently unleash the caustic venom from their tongues.

Naturally, the tongue enables us to communicate effectively with others. Humans find themselves in various situations, some good, some bad and some ugly. The ability to know the right thing to say, when and how to say it does not exist in the vocabulary of those with caustic tongues. They sometimes portray an icy, tough outlook, but grapple inwardly with emotional turmoil, envy, subtle inferiority complex, never see the good in what others do or want to do, and a few other vices. They are naturally on the offensive and easily put off folks around them. “here comes the joy killer” becomes an anthem sang by friends/colleagues.

A tongue can be a weapon of mass destruction and kindle a great fire. It has been the one tool responsible for breaking up relationships, marriages, dashing dreams, making one feel worthless, hopeless and inferior to others. Those with caustic tongues should learn when to zip their lips and not just speak because they want to. Throwing civility to the wind is their norm and sometimes believing that by being down to earth from their perspective, they’ll drive home their points without mincing words. If you are a victim of the caustic fever, you should learn to put a clip on your tongue, because one day you’ll need someone around to say the right things that would ease the pain and might never find anyone!

So long…auggiepo@yahoo.com